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What are the best Wayland compositors?
49
Options
Considered
606
User
Recs.
Feb 5, 2024
Last
Updated
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44
Options
Considered
Best Wayland compositors
Price
License
Programming Language
74
Sway
-
MIT
C
57
Wayfire
-
MIT
C++
--
Hyprland
-
BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License
C++
--
Weston
-
MIT
C
--
Arcan
-
BSD, GPLv2+, LGPL
C, Lua
See Full List
74
Sway
My Rec
ommendation
for
Sway
My Recommendation for
Sway
All
20
Experiences
5
Pros
10
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Simplicity and configurability
Everything is plain and simple, and you get to configure and script almost anything.
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Top
Con
•••
Sway does not guarantee support for NVIDIA drivers
It works for the most of configurations, but it is not guaranteed; those who use Sway on NVIDIA do not get any technical support. Even further, requirement to run Sway with "--my-next-gpu-wont-be-nvidia" is rather humiliating.
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cosmo's Experience
Sway comes packed with everything I need and expect as a previous i3 user, also including screen locking and taskbars by default! It's a truly lovely experience.
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Specs
License:
MIT
Programming Language:
C
Type:
Tiling
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Uses WLROOTS
Wayland compositor building library focused on standards. Best one around.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Difficult to install on Arch
Not enough info for installing on arch.
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ThriftyTiddalik's Experience
Easy to configure on Arch
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Top
Pro
•••
Compatible with the i3 window manager
Is designed as a wayland rework of the i3 window manager and a lot of the config options for i3 work with Sway.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Less window decoration
Though by design, but some users prefer a window compositor that has more configurable window decoration, like Sawfish in X.
See More
HarmoniousJievaras's Experience
Sway is incompatible with most of graphic cards (Nvidia). it requires to use nouveau (parody of driver) or AMD/intel graphics (parody of graphic card)
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Top
Pro
•••
Supports gaps
Just like i3-gaps, Sway supports gaps between windows.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Tiling
Windows use the entire screenspace, multiple windows can have odd dimensions cramping text or content.
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PoisedYarikh's Experience
Easy configuration, modular, portable, sensible. I've used Sway exclusively for almost four years, across several workstations, laptops, and I'm even working on a setup for my "smartphone". Dive in, you won't regret it.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Status bars through built-in Swaybar
Sway comes with information bars built-in through its Swaybar feature. It can be easily configured to show time, weather, notifications, and more, just like i3bar and i3status.
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RealisticProphasis's Experience
Intuitive and sane. It's the first tiling WM I've put serious time into, and mostly it just works. Configuration is a snap thanks to the extensive man pages and the well-commented default config file. Instant config reloads mean you can see the results of your edits immediately. Only downside is imperfect NVidia support but that's their fault, buy AMD.
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Top
Pro
•••
Tiling
Its interface does not consume a lot of screen space.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Screen locking through built-in Swaylock
Sway can lock the screen after you've been away for awhile or on demand with a key binding. This feature, called Swaylock, comes built-in and functions similarly to i3lock.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy and powerful config
Many features you need are already built in.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Windows can be rearranged with the mouse
By holding down the modifier key, the mouse can be used to move and resize windows.
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Top
Pro
•••
Compatible with i3wm configs
Sway is designed as a Wayland port/replacement for the i3 window manager, and a lot of the config options for i3 work with Sway.
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here
Recommend
148
14
57
Wayfire
My Rec
ommendation
for
Wayfire
My Recommendation for
Wayfire
All
15
Experiences
6
Pros
4
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Plugin approach
The usage of a plugin system allows for a lot of customisability.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Less configurable compared to x11 counterparts
The borders and title bars are less customizable. Outside colour change nothing else is possible. Plugin approach is a plus but as of now, no known plugin is available to change the appearance of window decoration. Firedecor is a good option but seems deprecated as it doesn't match the current Wayfire version.
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HilariousAchilles's Experience
Nice Compiz desktop back in Wayland. It need more love to be production ready but it's WOW! Need an easier to configure dock/menu, cut/paste are not working very well. But it very light and fast. If you like the Compiz Effect.
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Specs
License:
MIT
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
stacking, tiling
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Nice blur feature
The blur plugin makes this compositor look nice.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Dependency issues
Hard to match builds with correct wlroots version. Building is difficult because wlroots version is either greater or lesser than the required version.
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CreativeBoann's Experience
Solid compositor, responsive community.
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Top
Pro
•••
Fastest compositor with earth.google.com/web
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Top
Con
•••
Plugins require working wayfire to build but with each update, the plugin becomes incompatible and unbuildable
The case with firedecor.
See More
ComposedLaverna's Experience
Reliable, resource freindly, classic desktop with stacking windows
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Optional tiling
Wayfire has a basic tiling extension built in, and more advanced third party plugins like this one are available.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Cut/paste not reliable
Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But most of the time not.
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ResoluteBaoshengDadi's Experience
Fairly lightweight considering the extensive customisation options, and a lot of eye candy. The documentation is very clear as well.
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StrongHermus's Experience
Very customizable and lightweight with great effects and great gestures
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KindKhonsu's Experience
Awesome
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Get it
here
Recommend
48
6
--
Hyprland
My Rec
ommendation
for
Hyprland
My Recommendation for
Hyprland
All
11
Experiences
3
Pros
5
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Smooth
Animations smoother than you can imagine.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Early development stages
It has a few bugs and missing features.
See More
TactfulTamanuitera's Experience
soo much potential, active dev
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Specs
License:
BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
Tiling
Top
Pro
•••
Uses wlroots
The best Wayland compositor library built on standards.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Difficult setup
It has a lot of dependencies which is difficult to find and build in Debian. Also most dependencies are not found in the system repository.
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ProudKusarikku's Experience
cool
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Plugins
Has a plugin system.
See More
EfficientCaerIbormeith's Experience
Smooth as hell
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Beautiful
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy to customize
Has a nice wiki which makes customizing it very easy.
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Recommend
42
3
--
Weston
My Rec
ommendation
for
Weston
My Recommendation for
Weston
All
12
Experiences
3
Pros
6
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Nearly impossible to manipulate windows programmatically.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Nice appearance
Has a good appearance with borders, buttons as expected of a stacking window manager.
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ImmaculatePerun's Experience
the best for wayland experience, all you have todo is edit ~/.config/weston.ini to you like. man weston.ini.
See More
Specs
License:
MIT
Programming Language:
C
Type:
stacking
Compositor Library:
libweston
See All Specs
Top
Con
•••
Basic, less configurable and less compatible
Outside basic window management, no other fancy features. Outside adding launcher to the bar and changing bar colour, no other customisation is available. Also, it is less compatible with most Wayland applications since most are based on wlroots
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Headless Mode
Can run in headless mode (useful for tests & automation).
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SharpQuirinus's Experience
Mind blown by the elegancy of Weston.
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Top
Pro
•••
Fast
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RespectableShaushka's Experience
Very easy to use and has cool features
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Absolutely very lightweight
Weston is the lightest Wayland compositor. It runs without lag even on old Core 2 Duo laptops, and the Weston animation also runs fluidly without problem.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Simple
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Stable
See More
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Recommend
36
8
--
Arcan
My Rec
ommendation
for
Arcan
My Recommendation for
Arcan
All
6
Pros
4
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Difficult configuration
To work it requires configured Lua files, command line options, environment variables.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Nice API for custom Window Managers
A pro- for programmers, but it is much easier to write a Window Manager for Arcan that it is for Xorg or any of the other options.
See More
Specs
License:
BSD, GPLv2+, LGPL
Programming Language:
C, Lua
Decorations:
SSD
Default Desktop Environment:
Durden
Top
Pro
•••
Tons of features
So many things that can be done - video recording, streaming, clipboard managers, crash recovery, live window manager swapping, ... the list is endless.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
VR support
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Very customizable
See More
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Recommend
23
3
--
river
My Rec
ommendation
for
river
My Recommendation for
river
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Dynamic tiling
Windows are automatically tiled according to a layout.
See More
Specs
License:
GPLv3
Programming Language:
Zig
Type:
Tiling
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
Hide
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here
Recommend
21
1
--
Hikari
My Rec
ommendation
for
Hikari
My Recommendation for
Hikari
All
11
Experiences
1
Pros
8
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Stacking/Tiling hybrid view management
See More
Top
Con
•••
No window elements
No border, buttons etc.. It looks more like a tilling compositor than a stacking one.
See More
EncouragingAbundantia's Experience
Have it running on a one of my DEV Fedora boxes and it is great.
See More
Specs
License:
Copyright 2020 raichoo (Redistribution and use in source and binary forms)
Programming Language:
C
Type:
Stacking/Tiling
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
View marks
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Minimalistic Look & Feel
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Keyboard oriented
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Configurable tiling capability
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Modal interface
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Arbitrary view grouping
See More
Top
Pro
•••
UCL configuration
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
25
5
--
Enlightenment
My Rec
ommendation
for
Enlightenment
My Recommendation for
Enlightenment
All
15
Pros
10
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Unstable
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Beautiful interface
Enlightenment offers a beautiful interface with eye candy: it can be themed easily to the user's liking and includes an optional compositor.
See More
Specs
License:
BSD
Programming Language:
C
Type:
stacking, tiling
Widget Toolkit:
EFL
See All Specs
Top
Con
•••
Not many themes for enlightenment
... and most of them are not really beautiful. For example, a Dark-One on e16 has a simple and clean look and is really beautiful (if you like dark themes).
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Virtual desktop previews
Enlightenment allows for virtual desktop previews within its desktop widget for switching desktops within its thumbnails.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Backlight and bluetooth can be hard to set up
There seem to be issues with some DRM laptops.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Fast and good with battery life
Great for laptops.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Non-tiling
Overlaps and spaces between windows are both pointless.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Minimal hardware requirements
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Nothing in the last 20 years beats e16
It's fast, doesn't use much resources, is highly customizable and is rock solid (I cannot remember it crashing). It's combination of simplicity and beauty is unmatched. The default theme on e16 is kinda disappointing. Try B-42 or Dark-One. Be careful if you enable Composite. It works flawless, but you can screw your menus when playing around with the transparent settings in the settings menu. Making a backup-copy of your .e16 preferences beforehand might save you some trouble.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Lightning fast
Startup of e is lightning fast -- as it is during working with the WM.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy on ressources
Doesn't use much RAM and doesn't hog your CPU.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
No programming experience required to configure the environment
Configuring the environment of Enlightenment is done through a UI, so no prior knowledge of coding languages or editing of config files is needed.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Quick mouse-driven menus
Enlightenments menu is easily and quickly accessible by left-clicking anywhere on the desktop.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Lots of themes available
There is a large selection of themes available for the Enlightenment window manager, meaning that customization to one's preference is very straight-forward.
See More
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Get it
here
Recommend
14
5
--
KWin
My Rec
ommendation
for
KWin
My Recommendation for
KWin
All
16
Experiences
1
Pros
10
Cons
4
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Dependent on some KDE libraries
This makes stand-alone KWin somewhat inconvenient to set up.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Highly configurable
KWin has a very configurable environment. Just about any option that you would like to adjust will be available in the settings.
See More
CromulentVesta's Experience
Développement is extremely slow
See More
Specs
License:
GPL
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
Stacking
Compositor Library:
QtWayland
See All Specs
Top
Con
•••
Not really useful as standalone WM
No panel, no menu - just no way to start applications.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Changeable window borders, effects
See More
Top
Con
•••
Unstable
Though, now it is much more stable, than in first versions.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
QT window decorations support
KWin define QT programs windows decorations.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Some effects such as present windows are slow and jerky
Some of KWins effects can be a bit slow or jerky, resulting in an uneven fluidness.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Offers desktop workflow
In an age where everyone seems to be moving to touch interfaces, KDE remains one of the last DEs that still caters for desktop users.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Can be configured to be similar enough to Windows so it makes life easier for fresh converts
While kwin is far more powerful, it can be configured to be similar enough to Windows - for people who just changed operating systems and don't really want to learn something new, it works great
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Integrated compositing manager
KWin has built-in compositing with options on how it performs that can be changed by the user in the settings.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Beautiful interface
KWin has an assortment of attractive desktop effects, creating a rather beautiful interface.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Window effects
KWin offers an assortment of window effects, such as wobbly windows and window shadows/glow.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Effortless VSync
VSyncing with NVIDIA blobs can be tricky (the dreaded tearing) but with KWin, video and OpenGL games display flawlessly.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
NVIDIA EGL Stream support
It can work on NVIDIA video cards with proprietary drivers.
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Recommend
17
10
--
swvkc
My Rec
ommendation
for
swvkc
My Recommendation for
swvkc
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Fast
This is the fastest wayland compositor.
See More
Specs
License:
MIT
Programming Language:
C
Type:
fullscreen
Compositor Library:
libswvkc-wl
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Recommend
15
2
--
Mutter
My Rec
ommendation
for
Mutter
My Recommendation for
Mutter
All
3
Pros
1
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Slow
It is much faster than before.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
NVIDIA EGL Stream support
It can work on NVIDIA videocards with proprietary drivers.
See More
Specs
License:
GPL
Programming Language:
C
Type:
stacking
Decorations:
CSD
See All Specs
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Recommend
11
6
--
Labwc
My Rec
ommendation
for
Labwc
My Recommendation for
Labwc
All
1
Specs
Specs
License:
GPL-2.0
Programming Language:
C
Type:
Stacking
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
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Recommend
10
1
--
Swayfx
My Rec
ommendation
for
Swayfx
My Recommendation for
Swayfx
All
3
Pros
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
An improved version of sway
It has shadow and blur which is lacking in sway.
See More
Specs
License:
MIT
Programming Language:
C
Type:
Tiling
Compositor Library:
wlroots
Top
Pro
•••
Compatible with sway config
You do not need to change your sway config when you switch. There are few additions to the config to control the new features but the sway config remains usable.
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Recommend
3
1
--
Lomiri
My Rec
ommendation
for
Lomiri
My Recommendation for
Lomiri
All
6
Pros
5
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Consistent GUIs
See More
Specs
License:
GPLv3, LGPLv3
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
stacking
Compositor Library:
Mir
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
HUD (search and use menus with keyboard)
One of the best and underappreciated features ever, HUD allows you to search and activate menus based on their name and what they do, instead of having to navigate them.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy access launcher
That is always accessible on the left side.
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Top
Pro
•••
Vertical panels work well with multiple monitors
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Top
Pro
•••
Excellent touch screen compatibility
Unity provides a unified interface for mobile devices and pc.
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8
5
--
Lipstick
My Rec
ommendation
for
Lipstick
My Recommendation for
Lipstick
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Touchscreen support
It can be used via touchscreen.
See More
Specs
License:
LGPLv2.1
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
fullscreen
Compositor Library:
QtWayland
See All Specs
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7
--
Greenfield
My Rec
ommendation
for
Greenfield
My Recommendation for
Greenfield
All
5
Pros
1
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Con
•••
Doesn't work without OpenGL 2
I used it in Microsoft Edge (on Windows) and it didn't work.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Free and open source
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Specs
License:
AGPLv3
Programming Language:
TypeScript
Type:
Stacking
Decorations:
CSD
Top
Con
•••
Doesn't work without OpenGL 2
I used it in Microsoft Edge (on Windows) and it didn't work.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Frequently crashes on Google Chrome
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4
3
--
Liri Shell
My Rec
ommendation
for
Liri Shell
My Recommendation for
Liri Shell
All
4
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Build for Wayland
See More
Top
Con
•••
Uses Qbs as build system
See More
Specs
License:
GPLv3
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
stacking
Compositor Library:
QtWayland
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Virtual machine support for VMware and QEMU
At the point of writing VirtualBox doesn't support Wayland yet.
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4
1
--
dwl
My Rec
ommendation
for
dwl
My Recommendation for
dwl
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Dynamic, like DWM
See More
Specs
License:
GPLv3
Programming Language:
C
Type:
Tiling
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
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Recommend
7
3
--
Gamescope
My Rec
ommendation
for
Gamescope
My Recommendation for
Gamescope
All
1
Specs
Specs
License:
BSD-2-Clause
Programming Language:
C++
Type:
Fullscreen
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
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Recommend
2
--
wxrc
My Rec
ommendation
for
wxrc
My Recommendation for
wxrc
All
1
Specs
Specs
License:
MIT
Programming Language:
C
Type:
Stacking/VR
Compositor Library:
wlroots
See All Specs
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2
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